Best of the Bunch: The Trials – Australia

Through our Best of the Bunch series, we gave a recap on the Eurovision entries from 2006 to 2015 and gave you the opportunity to choose your Best of the Bunch. As you may remember, the current Best of the Bunch winners were put into our ‘Ultimate Eurovision’ but it’s time to see which of the latest three entries have remained as your favourites! In our Best of the Bunch: The Trials series, we are going to recap the entries from a certain nation starting with 2016 and continuing through to the latest Eurovision season of 2018. Your job is to simply enjoy the music, and vote for your Best of the Bunch winner!

Since Australia didn’t get a feature in our original Best of the Bunch series (as simply it would have been an underwhelming poll of just one participating act), today we are finally putting the spotlight on the nation that some still question at Eurovision! Whether you welcome Australia or not, the reality is that we are here, and we are coming for the win! In fact, Australia has come awfully close, as we will discuss today! Once we have recapped the latest three entries (sorry again, Guy Sebastian!) it will be up to you to decide which is your Best of the Bunch!

Australia 2016

In Australia’s debut year, the nation managed to crack into the Top 5 with one of the best local talents, Guy Sebastian. It was a strong start for Australia, which meant that the pressure was on for whoever would follow. An internal selection is the method of choice for Aussie broadcaster SBS, and it was decided that former X Factor winner Dami Im would represent Australia at Eurovision 2016. Her song was titled Sound of Silence, but the three minutes was filled with her incredible vocals rather than silence! It wasn’t the most hyped entry before the contest, but Dami proved that she was the silent assassin, unleashing her vocals during the semi-final, and subsequently the Grand Final. She qualified into the final at top spot, and in the final she scored 511 points which sent her into a very respectable 2nd place.

Australia 2017

The following year an internal selection was once again used, and SBS decided to engage some of the younger talent of Australia. The lucky representative was Isaiah Firebrace fresh off the X Factor season of which he also won. The song was revealed to be Don’t Come Easy, a song that was by no means a ballad, but didn’t quite fit into the traditional pop structure. The song divided opinions and our place in the final was questioned, but in the end it gained enough support to send Australia into the final once again. Admittedly some notes were shaky, but for the youngster who hadn’t yet had much experience performing to large crowds, other than performing on X Factor, he did a stellar job representing the nation. In the final, the jury vote definitely helped to send Australia into the Top 10 once again, finishing in 9th place with 173 points.

Australia 2018

That brings us to the most recent Australian entry, and it was a familiar face that was chosen to represent the nation (for real this time!). Fans will remember Jessica Mauboy from her appearance at the 2014 contest as part of the interval act, but in 2018 she returned as the lead artist, this time as a competitor. The infectious song We Got Love was released to a mixed reception, and once again it was unsure where Australia stood in the pack. At Eurovision, Jessica gave a confident solo performance that qualified her into the final at 4th place, but in the final it was not so positive. Unfortunately the televoters didn’t get on board with the entry, and Jessica finished in 20th place with 99 points.

So now you’ve seen all three performances, it’s time to vote for your Best of the Bunch!